TIRE PLUGS are awesome, a story and a question.

[lizpat]

http://slime.com/590/products/tire-plug-kit-1034a/

The question is: is that rubber cement gooey liquid paste thing even really necessary? It's included in the Slime brand tire plug kit. You're supposed to apply that along the tire plug.

I suppose it's there to help seal even better? But, I've seen and touched it when it's dried and it feels rather.. flimsy, not like it would seal well.

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There's no story. I've just had to plug the tires on my car, an average of about 2 times a year. That's a lot! But, the tire plug always does the trick. It's truly amazing! I feel great after doing it and I've gotten much better at it, I can finish one in about 5 minutes and I'm on my way. Just use my air compressor to refill the tire with air and it's all good, no need to re-balance the tire or anything.

 

[lizpat]

Here's a wild story: one of my plugs is right on the tire shoulder, bordering the sidewall..you're not supposed to plug there.. but i went there!

2. One of my tires has THREE plugs.

 

[chado_skins]

that doesn't sound very safe.

 

[jrmason]

I think using the cement actually helps lubricate the plug a little, making it a touch easier to push through.

On our annual 4 wheelin trip to West by god Virginia a friend put a nasty gash in his tire from a sharp rock. It took 4 plugs twisted up together to fill the hole. Best part is it held air and lasted the entire day out on the trail. Once we got back to camp where we had better tools we broke the tire down and put a patch on the inside of the tire.

 

[Oil Changer]

What you are doing is unsafe and nothing to be proud of.

 

[FL_Rob]

Use the glue it'll make it easier to push the plug and seal the jagged edges.If its in the tread its fine.

 

[CapriRacer]

Using plugs is a very, very convenient way of dealing with a puncture.

- BUT -

Plugs have been known to fail - that is, not hold air. It might not be right away. It might be many many miles and years down the road. The best estimate I have encountered says that 10% of the plugs fail.

(and for those who say they've never had a plug fail, I'm the guy who is balancing out the equation. I'm at a 50% failure rate.)

The other thing that plugs don't do is repair the damage done by the penetrating object. First, a patch "bridges" the damaged area and, second, it spreads the stress over a larger area. A hole is a stress concentrator, and fatigue cracks can develop from the hole.

So if you want to play the statistics game - fine! - but be aware that a tire failure at high speed can pretty much ruin your day.

 

[spasm3]

I have plugged many tires. When my house was built it was like they threw nails everywhere. The cement is a solvent for the rubber and lubes the hole a bit.

I think success has to do with where you plug. I have had better results when the hole was through the tread block. I think there is more rubber to grip the plug. I've only had a couple fail and it was in between the tread blocks.

 

[ronbo]

Used plugs about 10 times, in 15 years. Never had a failure and never used the glue, too messy. The T-type insert tool you showed is the way to go. My first kit was the screw driver type, it was torture to use.

Found I have to bring SUV tires into the house in cold weather to plug.

 

[eljefino]

I've had unplugged tires explosively fail for no reason.

I've had unplugged tires just up and decide not to hold air overnight anymore (losing 15 lbs a day.) Unmounted, remounted, new rim, valve stem, bead sealer, everything.

I've run several plugged tires with success. I've had one fail.

I get mostly used tires from a junkyard and mount them myself with 3rd world technology.

The best thing for a tire emergency is having properly torqued lugs that you can get off with the cheezy wrench, and having air in your spare.

 

[Cujet]

I've been using plugs for 30+ years. I have no trouble with them. However, I know how to use them, and when not to use them.

I recently plugged my RR tire on my Jag. It's working fine, and not leaking.

As far as the glue being necessary, it's not. But, it does help seal, and lubricate. So, I typically use it.

When patching a tube, using the glue properly (very thin layer) gives the patch something to adhere to, and forms a very strong bond. But, it's the combo of the rubber cement AND the dry contact adhesive on the patch that makes it work so well.

There is some possibility a similar chemical reaction occurs with plugs. I just don't know the answer to that. I'll have to try gluing a plug to the side of a rubber inner tube and see what happens.

 

[4wheeldog]

Tubeless tires are the best thing to happen to motorcycles in the last 50 years, and only because they make the use of plugs possible.

They have gotten me home many times, when the alternative was finding a flat tow (No pun intended), on Sunday. The furthest from home was alongside the New Jersey turnpike, when home was California. My wife was on the back, and I set a record for plugging, filling, and getting the [censored] out of there, considering the shoulder was maybe 6 feet wide, and traffic was going by at about 90 per. Plugged tire got me all the way home.

 

[DBMaster]

I have used them numerous times myself. My experience has been similar to CapriRacer's - perhaps a 10% rate of leakage. I kept the original tools that came with my first plug set and just keep a supply of plugs on hand. It's a good thing to take with you when travelling. I haven't ever used rubber cement with mine.

If I have a tire that has an object stuck in it with a slow leak I'll take it to the tire place and let them patch/plug it, but if the tires are nearing then end of their lives (when you are most likely to get a puncture) I'll plug it to save myself the time of sitting around waiting.

 

[stephen9666]

I worked in a tire shop in college and personally installed many, many plugs. That's what the shop did for most repairs. We also installed patch plugs in some cases. I later worked at another shop that only installed patch plugs.

We had very few people come back with leaks with our plugs. We had far less than the failure rates claimed in this thread.

I'm not saying plugs are the "best" way to repair a tire and they aren't the industry-recognized way, but they can and do work.

One thing to note, I've had much better luck with high-quality plugs. The black, made-in-China Slime plugs leaked on me after a repair on a personal vehicle. I switched to USA-made Safety Seal plugs and installed one that held for many thousands of miles until the tire was replaced.

http://www.safetyseal.com/

Safety Seal actually doesn't recommend using that vulcanizing fluid when installing their plugs, according to this video (skip to 5 minutes in the video to see the section on tire repairs):

 

[DBMaster]

I've got to buy some of the Safety Seal plugs. That video explained exactly why some of the repairs leak.

 

[mrsilv04]

The rope plugs are a necessity on a motorcycle. If nothing else, they'll limp you in to the nearest place to get a tire replaced.

It beats walking, or waiting a couple of hours for flatbed to show up (after you've already waited an hour for the tow truck that they sent out first).

On the set of wretched Michelin LTX's that I had, there was a rope plug repair on each of two tires. Never had a bit of problem with either one, and I'm the one who plugged them.

I prefer the Camel brand rope plugs, and I use rubber cement as well. I also let the repair sit for 15-20 minutes before adding any air to the tire.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Using plugs is a very, very convenient way of dealing with a puncture.

- BUT -

Plugs have been known to fail - that is, not hold air. It might not be right away. It might be many many miles and years down the road. The best estimate I have encountered says that 10% of the plugs fail.

(and for those who say they've never had a plug fail, I'm the guy who is balancing out the equation. I'm at a 50% failure rate.)

The other thing that plugs don't do is repair the damage done by the penetrating object. First, a patch "bridges" the damaged area and, second, it spreads the stress over a larger area. A hole is a stress concentrator, and fatigue cracks can develop from the hole.

So if you want to play the statistics game - fine! - but be aware that a tire failure at high speed can pretty much ruin your day.


You really cannot argue with the facts; that's why a single individual's personal experiences are of little value in the big picture.

As usual, you are spot-on.

Originally Posted By: eljefino

The best thing for a tire emergency is having properly torqued lugs that you can get off with the cheezy wrench, and having air in your spare.

Agreed.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
...I'm not saying plugs are the "best" way to repair a tire and they aren't the industry-recognized way, but they can and do work.....

Agreed and that's been my experience. Worst thing I've ever gotten at some point on plugs closer to (not on) the sidewall was a slow leak.

I notice the safetyseal plug has it's own separate lube. While I've never used the rubber cement with a plug I suppose it could be used as a lube if needed.

Now with area DT stores they will fix any puncture 'in a repairable area' for free, haven't had any need for a plug in a long time. But if outside that area not on sidewall, I'd consider one depending on useable tread left.

All that said, think if I had three plugs in one tire like the OP, I'd be shopping for new tires.

 

[Rolla07]

I have had great luck with tire plugs. In the past 3 weeks I plugged 3 of my old winter tires. All held air like champs and worked great. I keep the 2 tools in the glovebox and plugs in there also, as well as a well inflated spare. I plugged one two years ago and it held on very well for the 2 years I used it afterwards. With that said, I just didnt want to spend money paying to have a proper patch installed from the inside going out. I was on a wkend trip to the USA and had to plug one, and it worked great and better than being limited to going 80km/h max speed on the spare and lasted til I got home. With that said, if I had newer tires I planned on keeping for a good period of time I would of had a proper patch done. Since the 3 plugs in 3 weeks, I purchased new tires.. and those have been trashed! But I would rely on them at any time in case of emergency and its a quick fix to get you home and get it plugged properly later.

 

[Errtt]

I've always had good luck plugging tires til I can get them broke down, inspected, patched, providing I get the plug in.
I've broken the plastic handles on cheaper plug kits and/or had the insertion shafts bend.
Now I carry (I believe) a Nesco tire plug kit (Amazon) which have solid built metal handles and strong insertion shafts.
I also carry the Viair 88p compressor. Since the Nesco tire kit and Viair compressor, plugs go easy and getting the tire aired up goes faster than the previous compressors I've carried

I've plugged my tires no problem - I go through more plugs helping others. Like giving others a jump all the time. Now that I haven't had one of mine own tires needing plugged in a good while, its bound to happen soon thanks to this thread.